Charles,
I'd really like to help your tactile display technology become a
commercially available product.
I would be happy to share ideas with you. Please feel free to give
me a call at:
1-(408) 866-7564.
Of course, you should always feel free to contact me off-list as well.
Cheers,
NOEL or NOE-
-
At 03:57 PM 12/20/2016, C. Pond wrote:
Thanks for the clarification, Noel, and nothing pejorative nor competitive
meant of course. Yes, the challenges--multifacted--are huge, especially for
one person whose formal work was not focused on these blindness related
devices. I can see the creeping inadquacies in most of the notetaking
technology of today ever since the Braille Lites went off line; they were
seamless for their day in everything braille.
I tried over siz times to contact ad link up with the CBI with various
persons by phone and by e-mail including even Brian Macdonald (not to pester
but to openly share promising work with those who might be able to bring it
to fruition)and I had actually offered them the several Braille and tactile
technologies I had developed for free, and no strings attached, but there
was no response. So, I figured to pursue it on my own, not by my first
choice. I had also offered it to the Germans, with whom I had dialogued in
a friendly way. As soon as they read of some of the developments here, and
I had also offered it to them free if they could at least look at it, they
very suddenly became silent. So now, the only ones who are still in
dialogue are the Japanese and the Chinese.
I would like nothing better than for the CBI or wherever else to develop a
fine tactile technology. Finding no takers, which I do not take personally,
I by default pursued it albeit it has been a distraction from my
bread-&-butter. I know that Dean Blazie and your team are far mor
experienced at working on a notetaker, except that you do need a far less
costly and more robust braille module to replace the bimorph technology. I
had taken the Note-A-Braille from Smith-Kettlewell years ago--decades ago
now--and evolved it somewhat and gradually migrated most of it to software
using C++. It was merely a project to show the academicians that we could
use the data books, and that we understood certain principles and could use
the instruments and tools on the bench. I never intended to bring about a
notetaker, not then and not now unless I find no one with whom to work at
least to look at certain braille/tactile developments and to test them.
The C++ we took was mainly nuts and bolts stuff and for datacom for
satellite work, and I have never worked on applications for an operating
system of any sort, let alone open source, so they are still somewhat of a
mystery to me.
I'm still attempting to refine certain uses of materials, but the
technologies are sound. I've looked at some of the successes and failures
over the years, such as those from tyfello (I forget now the exact name of
the Italian efforts), and others, ad I believe the problems have been
solved. Granted, we have not yet found the ideal universal tactile solid
state material, but neither has it been found in the computer world of
displays.
I'd be happy to share with you what has been done here in the several
projects. At the time when Richard Oehm and I talked over a year ago I
think it was, I was having trouble finding a way to have layered PCB planar
coils done. This has been solved. OrCAD can do up to 250 layers, which is
more than what is required for these displays.
So, sorry for any misunderstanding which might have occured. Let the fault
be mine if there be any. Also, let me know if we can communicate on
possibly several promising technologies which do work, they are robust, they
cannot become contaminated from the outside (although repetitive longevity
has not yet been tested), and they cost considerably less than the
bimorph-based displays, and they are fast and quiet.
Respectfully,
Charles
-----Original Message-----
From: Noel Runyan
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 4:01 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Windows keystrokes on a perkins keyboard
Chuck,
You said:
"...I read
between the lines that his group--the CBI--really does not want for
another notetaker with superior braille module superceding their work...".
Chuck, I was in no way trying to wave you off. If you can come up
with something better than the NBP B2G, I'm all for it and will
support such an effort. Also, as far as I know, the NBP has nothing
fantastic waiting in the wings that could impact your plans.
My sole reason for mentioning the NBP device was to warn you about
the huge challenge of developing such a device, as well as to let you
know that the open source design of the NBP B2G device might be
something you could use, should you decide that you really want to
develop on your own a device that integrates an Optacon display and a
braille display.
I truly do not have any competitive dog in this race, and am in a
position where I am delighted to have anyone come out with a better
reading mousetrap.
I'm glad to support anybody who can prove that they have a working
technology for improving tactile literacy.
Good luck with your project.
Happy holidays to all!
Seasons greetings,
NOE- (as in missing an 'L' <Grin>)
-
At 12:27 AM 12/20/2016, you wrote:
Yes, understood, Catherine, and a good point. Contrary to my personal
grain, if the optacon III becomes a module which is integrated into other
devices as Noel Runyan suggests, a keyboard and keystrokes will be needed
on
the host device. If it operates as a stand-alone module, such keystrokes
and a keyboard will not be necessary. Personally, I would be quite happy
with what was developed here: an inproved and nicely souped up optacon
II-like device with tightened up parameters and some nifty features which
in
no way affected nor hindered the optacon from being exactly what is is: a
simple but modernized optacon. However, reality dictates otherwise it
seems
against my grain and preference; keep it simple, right? Between you and
me,
I got the feeling that Noel was rightly observing and advising, but I read
btween the lines that his group--the CBI--really does not want for another
notetaker with superior braille module superceding their work, and indeed
they might have something revolutionary in the works, and so his message
was
a gentle but subtle way of warning me off, but of course with
professionalism and friendliness and good points which I have come to
expect
from them.
These technologies seem to have an inertia of their own, and what we simple
optaconers want might be but a part of something more expansive, yet
without
obscuring the optacon module itself. As I say, I prefer my main design of
a
nicely souped up optacon II-look alike with better parameters and useful
features. metal box and all, portable and all.
Thanks for the reply, Catherine.
Chuck
-----Original Message-----
From: Catherine Thomas
Sent: Tuesday, December 20, 2016 2:38 AM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Windows keystrokes on a perkins keyboard
Why would an Optacon need any sort of keyboard in the first place? what
you are talking about is a device that does everything but what the
Optacon does.
Catherine
------------------------------------------------------
-Catherine Thomas
braille@xxxxxxxxx /
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